Audi’s grip in the U.S. will be increased.

Audi’s CEO has confirmed the rumors according to which the company plans to increase its family to 40 models and boost its production capacity, possibly via a new plaint built in the U.S. In the meanwhile, the Brussels plant will receive investments of around $200 million to prepare for the new A1 minicar due to appear in 2010. All the car’s variations, in addition to the hatchback model will be built in the above mentioned plant. Other variants include a cabrio, a sportback and maybe a SUV crossover.

Thanks to the new capacity of production improvements, the number of minicars that Audi plans to build increased from 100,000 to 120,000.

The influences.

The main source of inspiration for the new A1 family is represented by the AUDI Metro Project.

However, the reasons for the increased attention that Audi is giving to this model is caused by the wave of new premium minicars, such as Mercedes’s Smart, Volkswagen’s Up!, along with the new minicar that BMW plans to release.